Research and Development of Hepatitis B Drugs: An Analysis Based on Technology Flows Measured by Patent Citations

PLoS One. 2016 Oct 11;11(10):e0164328. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0164328. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

Despite the existence of available therapies, the Hepatitis B virus infection continues to be one of the most serious threats to human health, especially in developing countries such as China and India. To shed light on the improvement of current therapies and development of novel anti-HBV drugs, we thoroughly investigated 212 US patents of anti-HBV drugs and analyzed the technology flow in research and development of anti-HBV drugs based on data from IMS LifeCycle databases. Moreover, utilizing the patent citation method, which is an effective indicator of technology flow, we constructed patent citation network models and performed network analysis in order to reveal the features of different technology clusters. As a result, we identified the stagnant status of anti-HBV drug development and pointed the way for development of domestic pharmaceuticals in developing countries. We also discussed about therapeutic vaccines as the potential next generation therapy for HBV infection. Lastly, we depicted the cooperation between entities and found that novel forms of cooperation added diversity to the conventional form of cooperation within the pharmaceutical industry. In summary, our study provides inspiring insights for investors, policy makers, researchers, and other readers interested in anti-HBV drug development.

MeSH terms

  • Antiviral Agents / chemistry*
  • Antiviral Agents / therapeutic use
  • Cluster Analysis
  • Databases, Factual
  • Developing Countries
  • Drug Discovery*
  • Drug Industry
  • Hepatitis B / drug therapy
  • Humans
  • Patents as Topic*
  • Research

Substances

  • Antiviral Agents

Grants and funding

The research was financially supported by the project MYRG2015-00145-ICMS-QRCM from the University of Macau and the project FDCT013/2015/A1 from the Science and Technology Development Fund of Macao SAR. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.